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Location: Columbus Park, sitting on a bench, facing north, in the southern end of the park, in the children’s playground. Then: wandering through the playground towards the park’s southwestern exit.

Weather: darker, stormier, windier.

Background: after walking through the park’s inner partition, we found a bench facing north where we sat and interacted with some of the City Park workers who were preparing for the hurricane. A list of items prohibited from the playground:

Adults except in the company of children

Littering and glass bottles

Bicycles, roller skates, scooters, and skateboards

Pets

Using illegal drugs, alcohol, and smoking

Amplifying sound, except by permit

Disorderly conduct and standing on swings

Feeding birds and squirrels

Entering the playground after it is closed

Engaging in commercial activity, except by permit

Performing and rallying, except by permit

Rummaging through trash receptacles

Vehicles without specific authorization from Parks

Barbecuing and open fires

Bare feet

Transcript of observed events:

Writer: “That’s a full drawing. I can’t believe you were able to get that much.”

Dictation: What appears to be a nanny. Sound of basketball bouncing, laughter.

Photographer: “I’m reading Cleopatra: A life.”

Artist: “How is it? I mean, she must’ve had an interesting life.”

Photographer: “What I can’t figure out for the life of me is that Alexandria was this really advanced society in which, you know, women held positions of power. It was okay for Cleopatra to rule, women were doctors, scholars. This was 48 B.C.”

Artist: “Was Alexandria part of the Greek Empire?”

Photographer: “It was its own; it was Egyptian.”

Artist: “They were trading with them, though, right?”

Photographer: “–and she and Caesar were quite a pair, though. They controlled the Middle East, Jerusalem, Macedonia. It was really interesting.”

Writer: “Is it well written?”

Photographer: “It’s good. It won the Pulitzer. Stacy Schiff. What I’m figuring out is that I don’t really read non-fiction. You could read it forever.”

Dictation: Nanny on cell phone with two kids, kid pushing her sibling on swing. Chinese woman rubbing her butt on the Xos and Os.

Writer: “What is she doing?”

Artist: “She’s rubbing her butt on it. She’s getting off on it.”

Photographer: “That’s part of the exercise. Rubbing your butt muscles.”

Dictation: The southern end of the park is much more New York. Less Chinatown. Feels like New York City, like Financial District. All different types of kids running around, three different park workers changing the cans in preparation for the hurricane. Tree storm maintenance.

Photographer: “So many of the trees have leaves on them; the areas that have powerlines, it’ll be even worse. Do you have power lines in Brooklyn?”

Artist: “Yeah.”

Photographer: “So it’s just Manhattan that has them underground.”

Writer: “You could lose power.”

Artist: “Yeah. We could. Potentially. I got to think. I don’t think there are power lines in our neighborhood.”

Dictation: No smoking in playground sign. Fountain without water, like the Perec book, waterless fountain. Look at the view of City Hall. New high rise, the Geary building. Top of City Hall building. Little bit of rain. London plain tree, platanos x acerfolia, fufa. Refresh on the weather: at 3:49 p.m., 59 degrees, showers in the vicinity, we can loop back towards Chambers. Wind from the northeast 26 miles an hour. Chinese plaza, the sporting area, separate corridor, crossing ground. This is Columbus Park, but that’s Columbus plaza: what’s the distinction? Comfort Station, plastic sandwiches, unwrapping plastic sandwiches.

Artist: “Why would they choose that bench, right outside the nasty skeezy bathroom?”

Writer: “It’s totally disgusting.”

Dictation: Sound of automatic hand-dryer. Urinating. Like a prison toilet. Outside: someone loves you and his name is Jesus Christ and 2000 years ago he died on the cross for you. It’s a big box of sandwiches wrapped in plastic. Each guy’s had like three of them in the time since we’ve been there. It’s gonna rain, soon. Gonna pour. Dangerous clouds overhead. Hurricane’s coming.